Vacuum Valve for an I.S. Machine

ABSTRACT

A vacuum valve for use with a blow mold in an I.S. machine. When the blow molds close around a parison, vacuum is applied to the wall of the blow mold. At some time following the application of the vacuum, final blow will occur blowing the parison into a bottle. This vacuum will be applied until the parison has been blown into a bottle. During the period during which vacuum is applied but final blow has not started, vacuum is reduced by operating a needle valve in the vacuum line.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a division of copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/378,815, filed on Mar. 17, 2006, entitled “Vacuum Valve For An I.S. Machine,” which patent application is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and which patent application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to I.S. (individual section) machines for manufacturing glass containers, and specifically, to vacuum valves used in conjunction with the process for forming the glass bottles in these machines.

An I.S. machine has a plurality of identical sections each of which has a blank station which receives one or more gobs of molten glass and forms them into parisons and a blow station which receives the parisons and forms them into bottles. The blow station includes a mold, including a pair of opposed side molds. The side molds are first separated to an open position so that a formed parison can be located in the blow station. The side molds are then displaced to the closed position clamping a mold bottom in the process. A blowhead is then located on top of the closed side molds to close the mold and when the parison has completed “reheat,” the blowhead blows the parison into a bottle. A number of small holes are defined in the mold so that a vacuum can be applied between the outer wall of the parison and the mold surface. As the parison is blown, the vacuum draws the air, in this decreasing volume, out of the mold. In a conventional vacuum valve, a constant vacuum is applied.

It is an object of the present invention to improve upon this process for removing air from the blow molds during the bottle forming process.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following portion of this specification and from the accompanying drawings that illustrate in accordance with the mandate of the patent statutes a presently preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a blow station of an I.S. machine prior to the blowing of a parison supported within a blow station blow mold into a bottle;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the vacuum valve shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a logic diagram illustrating the operation of the control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The blow station of an I.S. machine includes a blow mold 10 for each parison 12 delivered to the station. A blow mold is defined by a pair of opposing sides 14 and a bottom plate 16. The finish portion 17 of the parison 12 (which was fully defined in the prior blank station) is supported within the opening at the top of the closed mold sides and the top opening of the mold is closed by a blow head 18 which is supplied with air under pressure via a blow valve BV/20. The surface 22, defined on the inside of the mold, defines the bottle that will be formed when the parison is “blown”. Located about this surface are a number of vacuum holes 24 which communicate with a vacuum inlet 25 in the base. The inlet communicates via piping 26 to a Vacuum Valve (VV/28) which communicates with a suitable source of Vacuum 30. First and second vacuum control valves (VCV1/29, VCV2/32) are operatively associated with the Vacuum Valve (VV/28).

Referring to FIG. 2, the Vacuum Valve (VV/28) has an inlet 40, connected to Vacuum 30, and an outlet 42 connected to the piping 26. The application of vacuum is controlled by an on-off valve 44 which includes a poppet valve 46 displaceable between a closed position (seated on the valve seat 48) and an open position where vacuum will be applied to the blow mold. The poppet valve will be displaced to the open position with the operation of the first vacuum control valve (VCV1/29).

A bipartite control valve 50 is defined between the on-off valve 44 and the vacuum valve outlet 42 by locating an annular valve seat 52, with a beveled surface, into valve body passage 54 and having a matched needle valve or operator 56 displaceable between an up, fully open position and a down position, which will partially close the bipartite control valve to a desired degree. An adjustment mechanism 59 consisting of a needle valve collar 66 which captures a compression spring 68 so that the neutral position of the bipartite control valve 50 will be the up position. By operating the second vacuum control valve (VCV2/32), air under pressure from a suitable source, is applied to the top of the collar 66, to displace the needle valve to its down position. As shown in FIG. 2, the top of the needle valve shaft 60 is threaded 62 and the desired down position will be set by adjusting the associated nut 64.

A control 70 for the Vacuum Valve 28 is illustrated in FIG. 3. When the control answers the query “Is Vacuum Being Applied?” 72 “no”, the second vacuum control valve (VCV2/32) will be off (Remove Vacuum Control Air 78). When the answer is “yes”, meaning that the on-off valve 44 has been operated to displace the normally closed poppet valve 46 to the open position, the control 70 will then determine the answer to the query “Is Final Blow On?” 74. When this answer is “no”, the control will operate the second vacuum control valve 32 (Apply Vacuum Control Air 76) to lower the needle valve to its down position thereby reducing the level of vacuum applied to the blow mold to a desired level. When final blow begins (the query “Is Final Blow On?” 74 will be answered in the affirmative), the vacuum control air will be removed (Remove Vacuum Control Air 78) with the needle valve returning to its up position. Full vacuum will then be applied. 

1. A vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine, the I.S. machine including a blow station including a blow mold mechanism including a blow mold bottom plate defining a vacuum inlet port, and blowhead mechanism operable to apply final blow to a parison disposed within the blow mold mechanism to blow the parison into a bottle, the vacuum control mechanism coupled to a vacuum source and in fluid communication with the vacuum inlet port, the vacuum valve comprising: a vacuum control mechanism housing defining an inlet port and an outlet port; an on-off valve disposed in the housing and in fluid communication with the vacuum source and the inlet port, with the on-off valve operatively coupled to a first vacuum control valve; and a bipartite control valve disposed in the housing and in fluid communication with the on-off valve and the outlet port, with the bipartite control valve operatively coupled to a second vacuum control valve, wherein selective positions of the bipartite control valve and the on-off valve provide variable vacuum control in the I.S. machine.
 2. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 1, including a control coupled to the first vacuum control valve and the second control vacuum valve with the control configured to: operate the bipartite control valve to a partially closed position when the on-off valve is in an open position and the blowhead mechanism is not being operated to apply final blow to a parison, and operate the bipartite control valve to an open position when the on-off valve is in an open position and the blowhead mechanism is being operated to apply final blow to a parison.
 3. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 1, wherein the bipartite control valve is a needle valve.
 4. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 3, including an adjustment mechanism coupled to the needle valve and configured to set the needle valve at a preselected position.
 5. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 1, wherein the on-off valve is a poppet valve.
 6. A vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine, the I.S. machine including a blow station including a blow mold mechanism including a blow mold bottom plate defining a vacuum inlet port, and blowhead mechanism operable to apply final blow to a parison disposed within the blow mold mechanism to blow the parison into a bottle, the vacuum control mechanism coupled to a vacuum source and in fluid communication with the vacuum inlet port, the vacuum control mechanism comprising: an on-off valve in fluid communication with the vacuum source, the the on-off valve operatively coupled to a first vacuum control valve; and a needle valve disposed in the housing and in fluid communication with the on-off valve, the needle valve operatively coupled to a second vacuum control valve, wherein selective positions of the needle valve and the on-off valve provide variable vacuum control in the I.S. machine.
 7. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 6, including a control coupled to the first vacuum control valve and the second vacuum control valve with the control configured to: operate the needle valve to a partially closed position when the on-off valve is in an open position and the blowhead mechanism is not being operated to apply final blow to a parison, and operate the needle valve to an open position when the on-off valve is in an open position and the blowhead mechanism is being operated to apply final blow to a parison.
 8. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 6, including an adjustment mechanism coupled to the needle valve and configured to set the needle valve at a preselected position.
 9. The vacuum control mechanism for control of vacuum in an I.S. machine of claim 6, wherein the on-off valve is a poppet valve.
 10. A method of providing variable vacuum to an I.S. machine, the method of comprising the steps of: providing a vacuum source; providing an on-off valve coupled to the vacuum source; providing a bipartite control valve in operative communication with the on-off valve and the I.S. machine; configuring the bipartite control valve in a partially closed configuration when the on-off valve is in an open configuration and the I.S. machine is not being operated to apply final blow to the parison; and configuring the bipartite control valve in an open configuration when the on-off valve is in an open configuration and the I.S. machine is being operated to apply final blow to a parison.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the bipartite control valve is a needle valve.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the on-off valve is a poppet valve.
 13. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of: providing a first vacuum control valve in operative communication with the on-off valve and configured to selectively open and close the on-off valve.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of: providing a second vacuum control valve, in operative communication with the bipartite control valve and configured to selectively configure the bipartite control valve between an open configuration and a partially open configuration. 